


Tail of the Sea

by Fawnthefox



Category: One Piece
Genre: ASL as mermaids, Brotherhood, Cutesy, Family Fluff, Half-Human, Hurt/Comfort, Imprisonment, Kidnapping, Shirohige Kaizoku-dan | Whitebeard Pirates, merfry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-17
Updated: 2021-02-22
Packaged: 2021-03-12 12:22:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,190
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29509644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fawnthefox/pseuds/Fawnthefox
Summary: Things are going normally for the Whitebeard crew. Well normally enough. The crew is driving Marco crazy but what else is new. That is until one of their fishing nets traps a baby mermaid who is desperate to get back to his brothers, and his brothers are desperate to get him back as well. Now on top of everything Marco has to deal with not only caring for the injured mermaid but finding out what the three merkids were doing all alone in the middle of the ocean. ASL Mermaids with the Whitebeards.
Comments: 5
Kudos: 59





	1. 25

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, this is a story I am X-posting from Fanfiction.net. I got a few requests for me to post it here as well. I have hesitated for a while because I didn't want to annoy anyone who now has to shift through this story twice. But I am trying to slowly (very slowly) wrap up my current stories. So I figured now would be a good time to start posting them.

"What's this all about?" Marco asked with a weary sigh. He loved all his brothers but sometimes they were a bit much to deal with.

Thatch grinned over at him, no doubt sensing his thoughts.

"Good going guys you got the attention of the mother bird."

"Why don't you tell the nice bird what you saw," Vista said to Haruta, who seemed to be at the center of the circle of pirates. Unlike the others whose faces were split into teasing grins, Haruta looked angry. His face was flushed and he stamped his foot.

"I'm not making this up."

"Sure you're not." Thatch teased.

"I'm NOT!"

"Of course squirt." Teach said.

"What did you see Haruta?" Marco asked hoping to stop the ensuing fight.

Haruta ignored the other's playful taunts to fix his attention on Marco. He was still new, their youngest member so far. Usually, Whitebeards didn't take on pirates younger than eighteen but Pops had made an acception for him. Overzealous to prove himself Haruta took everything far too seriously. He hadn't recognized his sibling's jibes as teasing but rather a criticism of his work.

"I was on guard watch this afternoon." I saw something weird in the water so I came down from the crow's nest to get a better look. But when I got to the bow it was gone. I figured it was a weird fish or something and I didn't think anything of it." He paused as Marco raised his eyebrow.

"Tell him the rest!" One of the pirates around him called and the rest broke into giggles.

"I'm getting to it," Haruta snapped but still hesitated as he looked at Marco. Like he was trying to figure out the best way to say this.

"While I was down I figured I should grab some lunch so I got some food from the mess hall and came back to the bow. So I sat there for a bit to eat and I noticed the apple was rotten so I pitched it over the railing…"

"And?" Marco pushed.

"And a little boy popped up out of nowhere, grabbed the apple, and then just… disappeared."

Marco's brow furrowed as the circle burst into laughter.

"Somebody give this boy a break," Vista called. "He has been baking in the sun far too long."

Marco watched Haruta's blush grow as he yelled at them. "I know what I saw! There was a little boy in the water. He looked me right in the eyes and grabbed the apple smiled and then went back under. So I went for help but none of this lot believed me."

"Of course we didn't, that's ridiculous. We are in the middle of nowhere. There's not another island for hundreds of miles. And we haven't seen another ship in days. How on earth could there be a kid in the water. And even if there was where is he now huh? Say that there really is a tyke swimming around under the ship, he has to have come up to breath by now. There's nothing but ocean for miles we would have seen him. But nope no boy, no apple and no common sense apparently."

The crew erupted into more laughter and Haruta glared. "I know what I saw."

Marco rubbed his temple. It was time to relieve Haruta. His shift had been a long one.

"Don't you guys have somewhere else to be?" Marco asked the crew.

"Nowhere that's less entertaining than this."

"I beg to differ," Marco told them as the crowd thinned, going back to their various duties, still laughing as they did.

Only Thatch stayed, sitting on the railing contently. Marco gave him a look which he returned with a smile.

"So what now Marco?" He asked. "As the superior, it's your job to deal with these things when they are reported to you. So what are you going to do about the boy in the ocean? Should we get a search party out?"

Marco knew his friend wasn't mocking him, well he was a little. He wouldn't be Thatch if he didn't. But he was really asking. It would be unwise to ignore an eyewitness account regardless of how unlikely it was.

Marco turned back to Haruta whose face was tomato red at this point. "I know what I saw!"

"Get some sleep," Marco told him. "That's enough for today."

"I'm not making this up!" He cried.

"I know." Marco agreed. "But you need a break. I'll look into it for now."

Haruta sighed in relief. Glad someone was willing to listen to him.

"What color was the hair?" Marco asked catching the younger pirate by surprise.

"Did the boy have golden hair? Sort of wavy."

Haruta looked surprised. "No? It was black and strait."

Well, that wasn't what he expected. "Get some rest kid," Marco told him as he turned away. Thatch followed after him, after making Haruta promise to go get some real food before turning in.

"So you think he's for real then?" He asked his fried and Marco nodded pausing at the bow. "Haruta isn't the lying type." He took his work too seriously for that. "Besides I got a report two days ago saying the same thing. One of the night watches saw a little blondie off the bow, he followed us for a little ways. When the night watchman called out to him he went back under the water. And he never came back up.

"Way to bury the lead." Thatch said glancing out at the open ocean. "So you're saying there are not one but two kids swimming around out there? How is that even possible?"

Marco didn't know. But he intended to find out.

"Tell the night lookout not to bother," Marco told Thatch. He was going to get to the bottom of this.

* * *

"So how is it going?" Thatch asked Marco who was sitting on the railing with a bored expression on his face.

The sun had set hours ago and the ocean was dark. Illuminated only by the ship's light and the intense glare of the moon that reflected on the water's surface.

"No sightings of little kids if that's what you mean," Marco told him not bothering to look up as Thatch sat down beside him. "Excluding you I mean."

"Well, this might help." Thatch said hefting a bag of apples onto the railing beside him. "Apparently these are hungry boys who like apples."

He threw one into the water where it bobbed innocently in place.

"You know the ship is moving pretty fast?" Thatch asked after a few minutes.

He threw another apple in.

"So?"

"So that means that they have been following us for at least two days. What kid do you know of that can keep up with a ship?"

"Probably any kid that lives in water," Marco told him.

Thatch raised his arm to throw a third one but stopped. "Where did the first apple go?"

Sure enough, there was only one apple bobbing in the water. The other one was gone. Thatch threw it into the water anyways as they held their breaths. After a few minutes, a tiny hand came up and snatched the furthest apple dragging it under the surface. The last one disappeared the same way not a second later. It happened so quickly they could have easily missed it if they weren't careful.

"My god…" Thatch said as he tossed another round down. They both waited but the apples remained there. The little hand was gone. Perhaps Thatch's voice had scared it, perhaps something else. After a few hours, and many more apple none of which were eaten the two men gave up.

"What are we going to do?" Thatch asked as they made their way to the watch nest.

"There isn't much we can do," Marco said. "We could stop but there's not much point if it's already following us."

"Not an it, he." Thatch said. "Maybe multiple he's."

In the mourning they asked Namur to take a look around the area and although he grumbled he did. But after searching for half the day he came up with nothing. There was no little boy in the water. Nothing but Empty Ocean for miles and miles. Still, they knew what they saw, or rather didn't see.

Nearly two days went by without a sighting and Marco was beginning to give up on getting to the bottom of this. After yet another late night watch with Thatch and

Thatch's apples he was awakened far too early by a harsh knocking on his door.

"What is it Haruta?" He answered.

The boy was excited about something, he was so fidgety he could barely standstill.

"I saw it again!" He was practically glowing in excitement. Off the back of the ship. I think there are two of them.

That woke Marco up as he let Haruta pull him down the maze of corridors and topside where he made his way to the back of the ship. Izo was already there, his dark eyes fixed firmly near the horizon.

"Where did they go?"

"They disappeared five minutes ago. They were in a pair. I don't know how long they have been following us but they sure do keep their distance."

So there were two of them.

"A blondie and a black-haired one?"

Izo nodded as the three of them waited impatiently, leaning against the rail. Sure enough, about half an hour later two heads once again popped out of the water; one blonde and one black. They were far away, a good hundred meters or so. But Marco met their eyes evenly and in one jump he took off. His phoenix wings erupted and he sped through the sky towards the two boys.

The second he moved the blond one disappeared, back under the water. But the black-haired boy stood his ground. He had sunken a few centimeters back into the water, so the surface just about reached his nose. But his eyes were practically glowing with anger.

Marco hovered in front of him, his feet nearly touching the surface, something he had to mindful of. The two locked eyes and the little boy scowled and Marco swore he heard a loud growl. But before he had the chance to say anything there was a swish of water and the boy was gone.

Neither boy resurfaced again, despite them waiting for hours. But Marco was certain they were still following the ship. Thatch was sure as well and made sure to throw over some apples for them.

"So why are they following us?" Thatch asked as he finished preparing that night's dinner.

"Who knows?" Marco said as he watched his friend slice vegetables with precision. "They must have seen ships before." It wasn't uncommon for pirates and the navy to travel in this strait. Thatch paused in the chopping as he fingered a carrot thoughtfully. "Maybe it's the food. We dump a lot of the leftovers and stuff that's gone bad over the side. Plus our nets attract lots of fish. They might be following us for food." They sure ate the apples quickly enough.

Marco nodded. That made sense. "A better question is what are they? And where are their parents? Or at least other adults." They looked far too young to be out here by themselves. If it had been a full-grown man swimming around they would have found that extremely odd. But chances were they would have moved on if it was apparent he didn't need help. But it was hard to ignore two unattended children all on their own.

"Whatever it is we will get to the bottom of it," Thatch promised and Marco knew he meant it. He had a soft spot for children the likes of which were rarely seen in pirates.

"Until then will you go check with the fishermen to see how much they caught today? I needed the numbers an hour ago."

As the head cook Thatch had responsibilities to look after his siblings much like Marco. The man dipped his head heading over to the back deck to see what the holdup was.

The sun was rapidly setting and the usually busy deck had become more subdued. The only ones on the deck at this time were the fishermen or those on guard duty. The rest of the crew was taking a break before dinner. No doubt dinner was going to be late tonight.

When Marco made it down to where the fishing nets were he was surprised to see five of the large fishnets already on deck, lying off to the side completely forgotten. All the fishermen's attention was fixed on the sixth net which was currently halfway out of the water.

"What's taking them so long?" He asked the nearest crew member.

He pointed to the sixth net where the group of fishermen were all huddled around trying to pull it up to little avail.

"No clue?" It must have gotten caught on something. It won't budge. We have been pulling it up inch by inch for nearly two hours. It's exhausting. We better have caught a ton of fish or I'm going to be pissed.

Marco remained silent as he watched them pull the fish net out of the water. If nothing else the fishermen were a tenacious bunch. They were determined to bring the hull on board even if it broke every one of their backs. When they managed to pull it a third out of the water something changed. Like a switch being flipped whatever was holding the net back stopped and suddenly it was flying up into the air over the ship.

The crew cheered loudly but Marco ignored them instead to stare at the net. Was it his imagination or was there something red in it. From his spot underneath it looked like a red tail, about the size of a dolphin's.

He heard a faint whimper missed by the others that snapped him into action.

"Lower it!"

"What?"

"Now!" He commanded crossing the deck to stand beside the lever system which had a small crowd around it.

"Aye aye," One of them said as the net came crashing to the deck. Marco stopped it a few feet before it could hit the wood.

"What the hell?" The lead fishermen asked as the others fell silent.

Unlike the other nets that were brimming with silverfish, this one had very few. In lieu of dinner, it held a little boy… or at least half of one. Instead of legs, he had a bright red tail.

The crew pressed closer for a better look. All of them shocked silent.

"Is that… a mermaid?"

"It appears so," Marco said as he stepped closer keeping a careful eye on the little boy's face. Although he was dripping with water it was easy to tell he had been crying. His bottom lip was trembling and his eyes were red. When Marco reached out a hand he let out a whimper.

"What do we do?"

Not too good in a crisis were they?

"Let him down that's what," Marco directed as they finished lowering it to the deck, much more carefully this time.

"What the hell is a mermaid doing all the way out here?" One of the men asked as they set about unloading the net.

That was a good question. It was extremely rare to see a mermaid outside of Fisherman's Island. It was even rarer to see one this young and it was unheard of to see a baby Merfry outside of the Grandline. Most people in these parts thought of them as myths. Only the travelers knew better.

Marco sighed as he heard another sniff.

The men untied the net letting the fish flop freely onto the deck but the little boy didn't move. He lay stiff as the dead, tangled up in the net.

"Are you okay little one?" Marco asked cautiously as he carefully stepped onto the laid-out net avoiding the fish and seaweed ensnared in its tangles. He asked the fishermen to give him their knife which they did. He dropped to his knees beside the kid pretending not to hear the desperate sniffles.

By this time word had begun to spread and a large crowd was forming around them full of crew members wanting to see a Merfry. Marco wished they wouldn't. The little guy was already terrified.

"Don't worry." He promised as he began to cut the net to free the boy. "We are going to get you out of here. How long he had been caught was anyone's guess.

Despite the fishermen's protest, he cut the net pulling it off the kid and getting a better look at him as he did so. He was small and trembling hard. He had black hair and big dark eyes that looked at Marco like he was the devil incarnate. There were three grooves on each side of his neck that served as gills and his tail was a vibrant shade of red like a tropical reef fish.

While majestic in water the tail was a dead weight on land and did little more than twitch as Marco ran his hands over it. The boy whimpered at the touch but he still didn't move. This was not the same boy from this morning. No, this was the tiny one who Haruta must have seen. The apple eater.

"What's wrong?" Marco questioned when the boy still did not move. He rested his hand on his tiny arm and the kid let out a whimper but didn't try to move away. It was then he noticed the dull red water around them. Slowly turning a brighter shade every minute.

"Call a doctor!" He shouted to the crew before turning his attention back to the kid who had jumped when he raised his voice.

"We aren't going to hurt you." He promised gently running his hands over him looking for an injury. It wasn't that hard to find. Near the base of his tail, there was a large hook embedded all the way through. Marco winced. That must be painful.

It was a shark hook, to catch the sharks that tried to feed on the fish in the nets. It was designed to sink deeper the more they struggled and like all hooks, it was impossible to dislodge once the barb was inside. He felt a stab of sympathy for the kid seeing the damage the hook had done to his little tail. He must have been struggling really hard for that kind of wound. There was no way he could dislodge this himself. This should be handled by a skilled doctor.

Marco cut the hook out of the net. Forget the doctor, he should take the kid there himself now.

But the second he realized he was free the little Merfry turned himself over with a powerful flap of his tail only digging the hook in deeper. Despite Marco's warnings, he tried to crawl away, digging his fingernails into the wood as he crawled towards the railing. No way was Marco letting him go back into the water bleeding like this. He would be dead within the week.

"We're not going to hurt you," he promised as he bent down beside the kid picking him up in one steady move. The tail was slimy in his hands but the skin felt surprisingly human.

As he was picked up the boy let out a terrified squeak and began to thrash around trying to free himself. Marco wondered if he even knew how to talk for how silent he was.

He turned to face the crew who were watching him like he was the most interesting thing that happened all day.

"Why is there a baby mermaid here?" Someone called.

"Guys I know you're curious but you're scaring him." If the little fry's eyes got any bigger they would pop out of his head. He looked beyond terrified. "Go back to whatever you were doing, I promise I will find out and tell you about it later."

The crew grumbled but more or less did what they were told.

"And someone tell Oyaji!"

Holding the little guy to his chest Marco made his way through the crew members and below deck where he met the doctor rushing to help about halfway. They walked back to the hospital wing together. The doctor was so excited about the prospect of working on a mermaid it was almost embarrassing.

A small crowd gathered outside the door and Marco purposefully closed it behind them hoping the crew would get the message.

When Marco put him down on one of the beds he began to shake harder looking around the white room in sheer terror.

As the doctor pulled on his gloves he tried to roll off the bed but they stopped him.

"Would you hold him down?"

Marco agreed feeling bad as the little guy started whimpering.

"Can you talk?" The doctor asked as he felt around the wound.

The little boy nodded with a sniff.

"Why don't you tell us your name?"

A tear ran down his now dry cheek and he shook his head shifting under Marco's hands.

"Can you pull the hook out?" Marco asked having no idea how to comfort the kid.

"Not like this. It's all the way in and the surrounding skin was damaged. We will have to cut the end off and pull it all the way through."

The kid definitely understood that as his whimpers rose in volume and he started to cry louder. Oops. The doctor and Marco shared an apologetic look. He tried to question the kid but he didn't answer a single one so the doctor gave up and focused on his work.

He gently cleaned the surrounding blood away and applied some topical antithetic to the area. From there he could cut off the end of the hook and it pull it out by its head.

"What do we do with him?" Marco asked as he pet the kid's hair reassuringly as the other man began to stitch up the wound.

"Well, he's not going back into the water like this. His wound will reopen and he will bleed out. That's what Marco suspected.

"Still we can't just take off. There are other little ones out there. At least two, they have been following us for miles."

From the corner of his eye, Marco noticed the kid sit up at that.

"We can't just leave them if they are on their own."

The doctor looked surprised at that. "Where is their pod?" Even more, than humans mermaids were social creatures. They rarely traveled alone and preferred small groups of their family or friends. Although when they were still just Merfry they stuck close to their parents who were fiercely protective of them. Few surface dwellers had ever seen a Merfry or even an adolescent one because of how cautious the entire race was with their younglings. Unless you were on Fisherman's island and trusted enough by the community the kids were kept hidden away until at least they were old enough to fend for themselves. Which in the case of this little guy was many years away.

"Well until we get some answers we can't leave and until he heals we can't let him back into the ocean. There's no choice but to ask Oyaji to stall the boat. Marco agreed as he watched the doctor bandage the tail in waterproof bandages.

"What do we do with him until then?"

The doctor shrugged. He can't stay here forever. And he hasn't learned to move on land very well.

"I guess we can put him in the big bath for now. It had just been cleaned this morning, as it was every morning. And it was big enough the kid could swim around without straining himself too much. Plus Marco was sure that he would feel much better if he was back in the water. He looked so scared and small here. Sure the crew would grumble a bit but there were other baths they could use.

Marco helped the kid sit up as he poked the bandages around his tail.

"Don't mess with that." The doctor told him and he stiffened.

"We are going to put you in some water okay?" He doubted the mermaid knew what a bath was and he didn't bother explaining. With the doctor's help they picked him up again and made their way through the crowded halls earning some strange looks.

"I don't think he likes us very much." The doctor said and Marco had to agree.

"Well, why would he? We trapped him in a net where he got hurt and then took him away from his friends." He felt the boy move his tail in agreement. His gills were less prominent now that they had dried. They looked more like scars. Without the tail, he could easily pass for a human.

"We will have to lock him in," Marco said feeling bad when the little kid stiffened as they carried him into the bathroom. This early in the day it was empty.

"Not like he would get very far."

Far enough. Marco thought. He was pretty determined even if he had to drag himself all the way back to the bow he would.

The baths were a large network of pools walled off by rocks that made it feel like a hot spring rather than a bathroom. There was even a waterfall in the middle and bamboo surrounding it giving the bathers privacy. Marco figured the kid would be happy here for the minute.

They began to lower him into the bath but before they were halfway down he wiggled out of their hands and disappeared into the water with a loud splash.

"Is he going to be all right?" Marco asked when he did not resurface.

"He is just scared. I doubt we will see him again if he can help it. Maybe we should have given more thought to how we are going to get him out."

That was going to be an ordeal for sure. He doubted anyone but Namur was going to be able to catch a mermaid their element. And they had already used their favors with Namur for the month for how long he spent looking for the boys.

"You go talk to Oyaji and I will make sure everyone steers clear of here for the time being."

Marco agreed to give the bath one last glance before they left, shutting the door and locking it behind them.

* * *

"Well, this certainly is unexpected." Oyaji said with a laugh as he took another gulp of 'water'.

"No kidding."

"And you say there are others?"

"At least two, both still just Fry's. We think they are probably his pod."

"I guess we don't have much of a choice then, we will dock here until we can catch the other two brats or decide to release the little guy." Whitebeard sounded more amused than bothered by this. He was always the sort of guy who liked to be amused more than he liked being annoyed.

"Will he be okay in the baths?"

"We lowered the temperature and Thatch is going to feed him. He should be okay. At least we will know he is alive if the food keeps disappearing."

Pops laughed at that. "I bet Thatch is going to love this."

"He does love kids."

This was going to be an interesting week Marco thought as he looked out at the sea expecting to see the other two boys bobbing ahead of the boat. But they weren't there.


	2. Chapter 2

"He hasn't come out for anybody," Marco said with a sigh as Thatch followed him down the corridor to the baths. On top of all the other stress, he now had to worry about the tiny Mermaid boy now entrusted into his care.

"I don't doubt it," Thatch said his tone much lighter than Marco's. He was more excited at the prospect of having a kid to care for than daunted by it.

"Who would want to see all your ugly mugs?"

"And yours is so nice?"

"Doesn't matter what my face is like," he held up the basket. "I have food."

Marco unlocked the door letting Thatch inside before closing it behind them. They had decided to keep it locked from both sides so the mermaid boy couldn't get out and the overeager crew couldn't get in.

The pool was clear and free from any movement. If Marco didn't know any better he would say it was empty. But he did know better. Although no one had seen the kid for over a day he was still in here somewhere. If nothing else he sure knew how to hide. If this boy had been part of a real pod then that would have been his only skill. No doubt he wouldn't have been caught if he was.

Thatch sat down at the edge of the pool pulling an apple from his basket.

"Hey little apple eater," he called to the empty room. "Remember me?" He put the apple in the water pushing it out towards the middle.

"I'm sorry we scared you. We didn't mean to."

There was only silence.

"You like apples right," he continued unperturbed that he was talking to himself.

"Guess I have to eat all these by myself then huh? Too bad there aren't any hungry kids around to help me."

Thatch smiled as two large eyes popped up near the back of the main pool, a lot like a baby alligator sensing out danger.

Marco knew the boy was being cautious. Trying to assess the threat level before he accepted a food offer. He also knew that it was taking a lot of his friend's willpower not to laugh and ruin his imitation of survival behavior.

They watched as he drifted a little bit closer, keeping his eyes on them as he did so. When he was in arms reach of the apple he grabbed it and disappeared back under the water so fast all they saw was a flick of his red tail.

Thatch turned to Marco his mouth forming the word 'cute,' without any sound.

'I know,' Marco mouthed back, crossing his arms as he leaned against the wall to watch.

"Do you want another one?" Thatch asked putting the second one in the water in front of him.

After a few moments of silence, the kid appeared again just a few feet in front of them only this time his whole head and shoulders were out of the water.

Thatch gently pushed the apple over to him which he grabbed sinking back down to his nose to eat it, all the while staring at them intently.

"We can't just feed him apples forever," Marco said making sure to keep his voice soft. The kid jumped anyways but didn't hide back under the water.

Thatch laughed at that. "Don't be scared, that's just dumb old Marco. He couldn't catch you even if he wanted to."

The wide eyes flitted quickly to Marco then back to Thatch. He probably would have disappeared again if not for the promise of more apples.

"And I'm Thatch, what's your name."

The Merfry looked once again from Thatch to Marco then to the apple in Thatch's hand before turning down at the water. He muttered something but they couldn't hear it.

"What was that?"

"Luffy," He said holding his head out of the water.

"It's nice to meet you squirt," Thatch said holding out the apple which the kid…Luffy snatched out of his hand so quickly it looked like he had been burned.

Both men watched in amusement as half the apple disappeared in one bite. It was completely gone in another two not leaving so much as the core, seeds, or even the stem.

Marco coughed in surprise, "You must be hungry." Did Mermaids usually eat apples? He didn't know. He doubted it was part of their regular diet. But considering the circumstances, he doubted this little pod was very picky about what they ate. If they were indeed all alone it was a miracle they had survived this long. Three Merfry did not equate to an adult after all.

Seemingly sensing his thoughts Thatch laughed again. "I don't just have apples. Do you want some fish?"

Luffy nodded as Thatch handed him one of the silverfish that seemed to populate this area.

"Don't we have to cook it?"

"I doubt it Thatch said making a face as they watched Luffy attack it with a viciousness previously unseen. Much like the apple he ate it all in a few bites, starting with the head and down the body until the tail hung out no his mouth while he chewed. Marco could hear the sound of bones crunching under his teeth.

"I don't think fire is something they have access to," Thatch elaborated as Luffy slurped up the tail swallowing it whole.

Marco crackled his nose as Luffy looked innocently onwards despite the fish blood dripping from his mouth and mixing with the water. He was going to have nightmares about that one. He hoped for all their sakes that part of getting the kid to trust them did not require them to do that as well.

He rose further out of the water without realizing it as he crept towards Thatch eager for more.

"Where does he put it all?" Thatch's wondered and Marco just shrugged. The doctor had mentioned to him later that Luffy was looking a bit thin. He made it clear that he was in no way shape or form qualified to diagnose mermaids but from what he knew of human anatomy the ribs weren't supposed to stick out like that. Marco, who was even less qualified, had to agree.

"Want to talk to us for a second Luffy?"

The kid shook his head, his eyes still on the fish.

"Whys that?" Thatch asked 'innocently' swinging the fish in his hands. Knowing the kid was hooked on its every movement, practically drooling. A hungry little Merfry indeed.

"My brothers said I'm not allowed to talk to humans."

Thatch and Marco shared a look as Marco pushed himself off the wall. At the movement, Luffy sunk back into the water gliding backward with a certain grace no land dweller could hope to achieve.

"Those two boys are your brothers?"

Luffy nodded cautiously and his tail flicked nervously above the surface.

"The black-haired boy with the freckles and the blonde one?"

He nodded again relieved when Thatch threw the fish towards him. Neither man wanted to watch him eat again and luckily enough for them when he caught the fish he sunk under the surface. Still they could hear the snapping of bones and see the blood.

"He is like a little sea monster." Thatch said and Marco had to agree.

"So if they are his brothers we have a bigger problem on our hands."

"How so?"

Marco glanced at the bloody spot. He could still hear Luffy eating. He wondered if he was listening to them or not. He figured he should probably save this conversation for later. Thatch seemed to understand and they both fell silent.

Luffy popped up a few minutes later licking his lips.

"Hey, bud?" Thatch called to him and he swam back over too curious to remember to be wary.

"Hmm?"

"Where are your parents?"

They expected it to be a sensitive question but apparently not. Luffy just shrugged noncommittally. "Don't have any."

"What happened to them?"

He shrugged again creeping closer to Thatch's basket, having finally figured it to be the source of the food. He was like an endless pit when it came to food.

"Dunno."

Thatch sighed. That's what they figured but it didn't make their jobs any easier.

"So you three are on your own then?"

Luffy shrunk back again.

"Right, you're not supposed to talk to us." Thatch remembered. That's fine, he was going to take that as a yes.

"Will you answer one more question? Then you can have the rest of the fish." He gestured to the basket.

Luffy looked hesitant but it was clear he couldn't turn down food.

"Kay."

"How do you guys survive? I mean it must be hard right. Especially if you don't talk to humans. There are no other mermaids around for thousands of miles. What do you guys do?"

The ocean was a harsh place. It was eat or be eaten out here. And it seemed near impossible for the boys to have survived as long as they had on their own.

"We hunt," Luffy said as the end of his tail gave another flick. Marco got the impression it did that when he was nervous. "We are really good at hunting. And when boats pass like this one they drop a lot of food."

"They mostly drop food that's gone bad. Doesn't that make you sick?" Thatch asked with worry.

The mermaid just shook his head. "Nuh-uh."

Marco figured that their stomachs must be made out of iron.

"What about when things get rough? Sea storms or when the fish migrate?"

Without warning the sea could shift from a beautiful paradise to a harsh unforgiving wasteland bare of food. And nothing against the little Merfry but it didn't seem like he would be able to deal with that, he was simply too young to know better.

Predictably the red tail flicked again as Luffy bit his lip, clearly torn between obedience and hunger. It is unsurprising which one won out.

"There are lots of hard times," He said quieter. "But my brothers are really smart and strong. They always know what to do." He sniffed a little at the thought.

"They take care of you?"

He nodded. "Can I go back now? I'm sorry for eating the fish out of your nets but I really miss them." He looked around the room sinking to his chin. "I don't like it here. I can catch you more fish if you just let me go."

It was going to be really hard to say no to that puppy dog face but they had no choice. Not after what he just told them. No doubt these children were tough. That didn't mean the Whitebeards could just abandon them without another thought, turning their backs as everyone else had.

Marco crouched down beside Luffy who shrank backward.

"Luffy we didn't put you in here to punish you. We don't care about the fish. We only caught you by accident. But you really hurt your tail." Luffy looked down at the bandage around the base before turning his gaze back up to Marco.

"If we let you go back into the ocean you are going to get more hurt. It pierced the muscle, you can't swim very well until it heals. We didn't mean to separate you from your family, I know how much that must hurt. I'm sure they are really worried about you. We are trying to find them okay? Then we can figure something out. We aren't going anywhere until we do."

Luffy sniffed again. "Thank you."

"No problem buddy."

They left him with the remaining fish which cheered him up a bit. As did Thatch promising to bring him more food next time.

Marco felt even worse about locking the door this time, knowing they were leaving little Luffy who was scared enough as it was all alone. But their company wasn't the one he needed. Besides they couldn't risk him getting out. He would reunite with his brothers and they would never be seen again. Eliminating any chance of helping them and sentencing them to a life of bare survival until the younglings finally met a challenge they couldn't overcome on their own. Most notably the injured tail.

"So what's the problem? He has a family. This is good right?"

"Not so much," Marco sighed. We separated him from his family pod. That's like a death sentence to a Merfry."

"How does that work?" Thatch asked baffled. Like most humans, he wasn't familiar with the interworkings of mermaid culture. Although they were structurally similar to humans there were some key differences.

"For a developing mermaid, their family pod means everything to them. They are a lot like whales in the way their brains have a special part dedicated to social and emotional ties that humans don't."

"What does that mean?"

"It means that from hatchling up to adolescence they can't survive separated from their family unit. It raises their stress and weakens the immune system to potentially fatal levels so any minor stressor can take over."

Thatch gave him a look that was somewhere between worry and disbelief. "Are you just making things up now?"

"I wish," Marco sighed. "But it's common across multiple species who partake in K-select breeding strategies; dogs, many types of whales and birds, wolves, dolphins, elephants… I can keep going."

Thatch held his hand up. "That's all right I get the picture." He glanced back at the door. "Poor Luffy. So if we don't get his brothers he will literally die?"

"Probably die," Marco corrected. "And if separated long enough the other two might as well. From the little bit, I saw none of them seem old enough to survive abandonment. Probably for a second time in their lives."

"But if we let him go his wound will re-open and he will also die."

"Or he won't be able to catch enough food with an unhealed handicap and starve."

"Aren't you all doom and gloom today," Thatch said bitterly. "How much time do we have?"

"I don't know enough about it to say. It probably varies from individual to individual." But they should probably find out and do a bit of research. This wouldn't be a spontaneous event there would be dozens of warning signs and a slippery decline of appetite, health, and energy that would be near impossible to miss.

"So the rest of his pod, his brothers. Their sticking close by then?"

Marco nodded. No way they would abandon him.

"But they are too afraid of people to confront us. Then how are we going to capture them as well? That is what we have to do right? I doubt they are going to come with us willingly and we already established we can't just let the little guy go like he is."

"Unfortunately this is what we have to do," Marco confirmed. They were pirates and used to playing the bad guys. Although kidnapping defenseless children against their wills was a new one ultimately it would be for their own good. If they were hated for it then so be it as long as they could help some orphans who got dealt a rotten hand in life.

"I don't think we have to do anything," Marco admitted. "The little Merfry's are going to come to us.

**Author's Note:**

> In this version Luffy never met Shanks so he doesn't have the scar, the hat or the devil fruit yet.  
> Fun fact I learned about fish while writing this. Fry's are what they call baby fish who have hatched and can feed themselves but don't have their scales or working fins. Fingerlings are baby fish with scales and functional fins but still not very big. Adolescent fish are fish who are nearing maturity but still not adults. Because I just made myself the leading authority on mermaids a hatchling is a baby mermaid 0-5 years old and hardly bigger than a stuffed animal. Their parents have to keep then in a special shallow pool without currents. A Merfry is about 6-10 years olds and can swim out in the open but don't have their adult scales or fins yet. A fingerling is 11-13 and much faster. Around this age their baby scales start molting and get replaced by adult scales which are both more durable and flashier. Adolescents are fourteen years and older and have their complete set of adult scales and full sized fins with a pronounced dorsal fin.
> 
> Anyway thanks for reading! I will post the next chapter hopefully tomorrow and you will get to see Ace and Sabo's point of view as they look for Luffy. Anyway thanks or reading


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